100 Phrases of Zutara
by Densharr
Summary: 100 drabbles of Zutara - ranging from everything to future, past, series, and even an AU or two.  Enjoy!  Chapter 1: the first fifty, 2; the second fifty, 3; the complete list of drabble titles in case you want to do it yourself!


1. Love  
He had always believed that from Duty grew Love, but as he looked to the blue-eyed goddess in his bed, he knew that he had been wrong

2. Dark  
She found that in the darkest of nights, a tiny flame could bring hope where even the most passionate words failed. When she called him her flame, she meant it.

3. Heaven  
As Zuko kissed Katara, he decided that no feeling in the world could feel quite as good. Later, on their wedding night, he discovered another level to this wonderful feeling that Katara called "Heaven"...

4. Breathe Again  
She couldn't breathe after the Agni Kai, not until she knew that Zuko's breath wouldn't be his last.

5. Smile  
On the rare occasions that he actually smiled, she swore that he could outshine Agni himself.

6. Silence  
She had always noticed silences in her relationship with Aang; they were always awkward, and any attempt to break them felt awkward at best. Her silences with Zuko, on the other hand, felt comfortable in a way that she couldn't define.

7. Vacation  
Katara had had to freeze Zuko in a hallway before he admitted that he needed a break – his eyes were drawn, his skin pale and his bending weak. After a week soaking up the sun at Ember Island, however, he admitted that a vacation was exactly what he needed.

8. Cat  
"But Zuko, how can you say no to this face?"  
"Katara, it's a stray. Besides, we're not allowed pets in the dorms. You know that"  
"But Zuuuuuuuko... please?"  
As Zuko looked at the cat's single eye, torn ears and ratty fur, he opened his mouth to tell her in no uncertain terms that she was not bringing that... vermin into their room, but the look on her face... well, let's just say that when she said that he couldn't say no to that face, it wasn't the cat's face that he was looking at.

9. No Time  
As Sokka stood in the doorway of her chambers in the Western Air Temple, mouth gaping, she mused that perhaps she should tell Zuko to grab his pants and leave before Sokka regained use of his senses.

10. Tears  
Tears mingled with the rain as it fell down her face. Holding an old, worn club, she slowly bent the snow under her late father's canoe into water and watched as he floated off towards the rising moon. The instant he faded from view, she buried her head in her betrothed's chest as he carefully held her close.

11. Foreign  
As he stroked skin above her ribs, she loved the foreign feeling that came over her.

12. Under the Rain  
After they had a fight, he knew that he could always find her in a small courtyard off of the Court, creating miniature storm clouds to match her mood.

13. Night  
The first time that she was saved by a spirit in the night, she froze until he left. The second time, she rushed into his arms.

14. Expectations  
Zuko had never expected that there would be much to a Water Tribe ceremony – I mean come on, their village barely qualified as one. But after the third hour of reciting ancestors, he realised that her culture was as deep as she was.

15. Hold My Hand  
As Lu Ten rushed out ahead of his parents on the beach, he shouted back at the Fire Lord and Lady to hurry so he could go into the water. His parents, smiling the small smile of parents, squeezed each other's hands as they sped up to join their firstborn.

16. Eyes  
She may have had her mother's spirit and skin tone, but Keahi's eyes and soul belonged to her father.

17. Abandoned  
Zuko's greatest fear was that of being alone –not only physically, but emotionally. One of the hardest times of his life was just after he claimed the throne and Mai left him. When Katara finally arrived nearly eight months later for a state visit with Aang, she found him nearly weeping, thinking he wasn't worth anybody's time.

18. Dreams  
Uncle laughed and told him that having dreams of pretty girls was part of growing up. When he asked for the identity of the girl, however, Zuko clammed up tighter than a clam-scallop. As soon as he closed his eyes, however, the girl would return to her teasing, stroking him with her soft, mocha coloured hands.

19. Teamwork  
Toph had always had her suspicions about the two older benders when they were preparing for the comet – not only did their bending have incredible synergy, but it almost seemed as if their every move acknowledged the other in some small way. The worst part, she mused, was how nobody except her seemed to see it.

20. Dying  
As Uncle laid soaking in fine oils in preparation for a traditional Fire Nation funeral, it was Katara who sought Zuko out and soothed his breaking heart.

21. Illusion  
"Separation is an Illusion". Sokka could never get those words out of his head as his dad would argue with Katara about having a Fire Nation boyfriend, while she'd argue that he was human too.

22. Creation  
They both had their own creation myths – in his, the first phoenix gave it's life to the cosmos so that other life would spawn, while in hers, it was a love so strong that the Moon's tears at her enforced separation from the Ocean took life of their own. In both mythologies, however, it was a recurring theme that true love could conquer all.

23. Stripes  
The first time that baby Keahi burnt stripes into Katara's sheets, she thought that it was adorable. The second, it was endearing. By the time the fourteenth time came around, she found Iroh teaching his grand-niece how to burn alternately dark and light stripes. Suffice to say, the Fire Lady was not amused.

24. Deep in Thought  
He would never admit it, but he thought of her as adorable when she stood in wrinkled robes, deep in thought on how to discipline one of their children when they'd done wrong.

25. Keeping a Secret  
Toph was alternately amazing and horrendous at this. When she found out from Mother Katara that she had the hots for Brother Zuko, well... one can't blame a little sister for wanting her brother to be happy, can you?

26. Danger Ahead  
...Was the joke that Sokka always made whenever the two newly-weds got into a fight. It was also the joke that Toph made when they subsequently made up... or, rather, AS they were making up.

27. Kick in the Head  
Zuko was glad that none of his children were airbenders after hearing On Ji's horror stories of children kicking their parents in the head. He learned not to consider himself TOO lucky after Amaroq water whipped his headpiece out of his hair and into the courtyard.

28. No Way Out  
As Zuko and Katara stood back to back, holding off a horde of Azula's rogue Dai Lee, they knew that there was no way that they would escape and they prepared themselves for death as they confessed their love for each other. They had no way of knowing that it was all an elaborate scheme by Toph and her pet Dai Lee until the little earthbender burst from the ground, laughing her head off at the looks on their faces.

29. Fairy Tale  
"Mommy, is that why you picked Daddy over the Avatar? Because he was a prince?"  
"Keahi, dearest, that's not why. I chose to be with Daddy because we love each other."  
"True love?" Keahi murmered sleepily as she burrowed deeper into her blankets.  
"That's how it always is in the stories, isn't it?" Katara smiled as she took her husband's offered hand and kissed her daughter on the head as she walked towards her own chambers.

30. Multitasking  
He never realised how many things she kept track of – it was always her that made sure everybody got fed, that Aang's training time was split evenly by his teachers, and that Toph always, always bathed at least once a week.

31. Horror  
...The look on her face when she read the note detailing Lu Ten's abduction.

32. Playing the Melody  
She never would have known how talented he was at playing the Tsungi horn if it wasn't for Uncle – she would have to remind herself to send him some white dragon tea tomorrow.

33. Hero  
"A hero is a man who does what he can." By those words, Zuko was most definitely a hero.

34. Annoyance  
Some would think that Zuko and Katara's opposing sleep schedules would be an annoyance to them – her late nights, his early mornings. But they found a way to make it work.

35. Mischief Managed  
By the time that Keahi was four, Katara finally figured out how to manage her mischievous behaviour – she never misbehaved under her father's gaze.

36. I Can't  
...Were the words she whispered as they kissed underneath Ba Sing Se.

37. Mirror  
Zuko was terrified that one day, he would look into the mirror and Ozai would stare back at him. For that, he was actually glad that Katara had never gotten the chance to heal his scar.

38. Test  
Sokka's test of Zuko's faithfulness consisted of getting him drunk then sending an equally drunk Ty Lee after him. He never considered that Zuko had more than enough blackmail material on her to make her switch targets. Suki never let Sokka near Ty Lee and alcohol ever again.

39. Drink  
Zuko had been drinking since before he was called a man – he had been on a Navy ship for three years with Iroh as his chaperone. So why was it that it took nearly a full bottle of fire whiskey to get him drunk, while it took only a single kiss from Katara to instil the same sensations?

40. Pen and Paper  
Zuko never was very good with words, so he wrote Katara a poem to tell her how he felt. Things went from bad to worse when Suki discovered the note and tried to confront him about it.

41. Can You Hear Me?  
Before Katara forgave him after Yon Rha, he wondered if she even listened to him, trying to beg her forgiveness.

42. Out Cold  
When Aang accidentally firebent Zuko's pants to a crisp, Zuko discovered Katara in an adjacent passageway, out cold with blood leaking from her nose.

43. Spiral  
After Katara's death, Prince Lu Ten had to take over the throne before his time as Fire Lord Zuko descended into a spiral of pain and madness trying to come to terms with the death of his other half.

44. Seeing Red  
The night of the Blood Moon, Katara couldn't help but feel the blood in everyone's bodies. She bloodbent anybody who got within eyesight of her, unable to control her actions. Only Zuko was brave enough, strong enough, to hold out until she could regain control.

45. Pain  
They both knew it, and knew that the most effective balm was the love they shared.

46. All That I Have  
They had lost. Aang was dead, the Earth Kingdoms burnt to a crisp, and Zuko and Katara had barely escaped with their lives after Azula had gotten the entire Royal Guard to fire upon them, empowered by Sozin's Comet. They ran to a tiny hole in a mountainside and wept sad, bitter tears for all they had lost. As they looked at each other's broken eyes, a tiny flicker of hope sparked in their eyes. No matter what else, or who else, they lost, they would always have each other.

47. Last Hope  
Although it was the job of the Avatar to save the world, it was the leaders of the individual nations would have to maintain the peace. As the peace was crumbling, Fire Lord Regent Iroh propsed a formal alliance between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation – Crown Prince Zuko would marry the Lady Katara when he came of age to inherit the throne.

48. Advertisement  
Zutara. It was just a silly little name that they discovered in the Ba Sing Se news sheets. But Toph found it hilarious, and would refer to them as Zutara at any possible opportunity.

49. Puzzle  
She had always considered him a puzzle – if he was so concerned about his honour, then why did he dress up all in black and sneak around to free Aang?

50. Solitude  
As he first started his banishment, he often found the silence of solitude stifling. As time wore on, however, he found the solitude of meditation more and more comforting. And when a certain waterbender started sharing his meditation space... let's just say that her presence enhanced his meditation.

- - - oOo - - -

A/N: For those wondering, in this canon-verse, Zuko and Katara had three children – Lu Ten, the eldest son, firebender and heir to the throne; Keahi, the "daddy's girl", middle child and firebender; Amaroq, the youngest son and a waterbender. I certainly hope that the names fit the Avatar-verse... but I'm probably being paranoid (again).

Hero quote is from Romain Rolland


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